1956 Porsche 356A Catch-22: I Can’t Sell A Car That I Can’t Register

There is surely someone out there who can give this 57-year-old Porsche a good home. It belonged to the current owner’s father, but is now in disrepair and no longer runs. The problem with finding it a new home is that it’s caught in a weird legal middle ground where it can’t be sold to someone who can fix it up and get it to run because it isn’t registered, but can’t be registered because it isn’t running.

States, even bordering ones, have separate motor vehicle departments with differing rules. Vehicles made before 1973 don’t need a title in New York State, which is good. They just need to be registered with the Department of Motor Vehicles, and the registration serves as the title. The problem with the Porsche is that it’s never been registered in New York: the current owner’s father lived in Pennsylvania, and it had a Pennsylvania title.

This dilemma was the subject of the Albany Times Union’s consumer affairs column on Sunday. A car can’t be registered in New York unless it’s, you know, running. So it will continue to sit under a tent in the current owner’s front yard, waiting for a legal way to be united with the mechanically-inclined car guy or gal who can return it to its former glory.